Rispain Camp facts for kids
Rispain Camp is an ancient farm that was once protected like a small fort. It's located about one mile west of Whithorn in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. This site is very important for learning about the Iron Age in Scotland. Today, Historic Environment Scotland looks after it. You can visit it by going through a farm near the A746 road.
The name 'Rispain' might come from an old Welsh word, rhwospen. This word means 'the chief of the farmed land'. This name fits well for such an important farm.
Rispain Camp: An Ancient Farm
Today, Rispain Camp looks like two wide earth banks. These banks are separated by a deep ditch. The ditch was originally almost six metres (about 20 feet) deep. The banks and ditch surround an area of almost half a hectare. This is about the size of half a football field.
Digging Up the Past
For a long time, people thought Rispain Camp was a Roman fort or a farm from the Middle Ages. This was because its defenses were so well preserved. But in the early 1980s, archaeologists started digging. They found clues that changed what everyone thought.
The excavations showed that people lived here between 100 BC and 200 AD. These people were local Celtic farmers. Radiocarbon dating helped scientists figure out the exact age. It showed that the site was definitely used around 60 BC.
Life in the Iron Age
During the digs, archaeologists found signs of a wooden gateway. This gateway was on the northeast side. It was probably connected to a wooden fence, called a stockade. This fence would have run along the top of the inner bank.
They also found traces of large wooden roundhouses inside the protected area. One of these roundhouses was very big, about thirteen and a half metres (44 feet) across. In the southeast corner of the ditch, they found a square pit. This pit might have been used to store water, like a cistern.
The people at Rispain Camp kept animals like cattle, sheep, and pigs. They also hunted in the nearby countryside for venison (deer meat). They grew barley and wheat. These crops were used for food. Barley might also have been used to make beer or other drinks.
